


Inferno

by Alex (mermaid_lance)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gay Keith, Gen, M/M, No Lions, Shiro is Presumed Dead, Some underage drinking, Violence, bi lance, broganes, general big bang 2017, she/her pronouns for pidge, superhero au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 12:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11759538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermaid_lance/pseuds/Alex
Summary: After gaining superpowers, Keith finds that having powers, well, it's a pretty big deal.





	Inferno

**Author's Note:**

> This is the fic I did for the General Voltron Big Bang of 2017! The playlist is [here](https://open.spotify.com/user/alexhall3536/playlist/52M3wGksGXjEDTf7zNUlFy)

Keith was stressed out by the whole scene around him. It was like tinder, ready to catch fire at any moment. Keith wasn't sure how he could avoid doing that himself, and he watched as people jostled around him in the crowd. Where was Lance?

Pulling his hands up to his chest, Keith looked up, and realized he had lost sight of the door on the opposite side of the room. He was in a crowded club, his shirt clung to his chest and it was gross because of all the sweat pooling under his shirt from the immensely stuffy room. Setting a hand on the wall to steady himself, that was what when something strange happened. He watched as a small flame flickered on his arm, and let out a little squeak. 

Keith shook his arm quickly and hoped no one noticed. That had been happening a lot since he had been trapped in that burning building a month ago. He then realized that he needed to find Lance. He could barely concentrate because of the loud music pumping through the building, even if he was supposed to be in a quiet spot. He raised to the balls of his feet to look around, why did he have to be so short?

After another moment, out what was probably just a moment of sheer luck, Keith saw Lance, his head a little bit above the crowds. Their eyes met and then Lance ducked out of Keith's sight. Swearing, he pushed through the crowd until he met Lance in the fray. 

Keith grabbed hold of Lance’s arm, and he was shoved out of the way just as a couple stormed by, their argument carrying. It was almost louder than the music and then the sound cut out. Everything around Keith was muffled and he felt Lance tug out of his grasp. Damn it. 

Pushing through the crowd, Keith tried to keep up with Lance, but he just missed him and that was when he heard a loud siren. He looked to where he thought the siren was coming from and there was a blue streak and a loud splash. That was Tempest! He had saved Keith's life a month ago. 

The wind began to blow something fierce and Keith grabbed onto a support beam of the fire escape nearby. He wanted to watch everything go down, and not get blown away. That would be a shitty way to end the day, you know. 

There was a loud screech that sounded like metal being torn to pieces and he knew that Hunk was on the scene. Hunk had told him before that he had powers, and Keith knew that sometimes that he would help out Tempest and his gang. When they were up against a really bad villain, everyone would be there, even a hero who hadn't been seen in years: Spectral Shift. She had been off the scene for years and years, and only recently started showing back up on the scene after her nemesis, Zarkon, showed up. 

Keith couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Spectral Shift run by. She didn't like Tempest, and they certainty never worked together. Keith had to know what was happening. Three of the city's strongest heroes were converging in one spot tonight and Keith had to know why. He struggled against the wind, but he managed to make it just to the fringe of the scene. He saw Helon (that was what Hhunk called himself. It had something to do with strength.) and Tempest fighting back a purple entity. A galra soldier had been sent by Zarkon. If it was Zarkon, Champion should have been here as well. He had been M.I.A for months, and this would have drawn him out here, for sure. 

There was a pink blur, then there was spectral shift. Keith was in awe. He used to love to hear his brother, Shiro, tell stories about how she used to save the day. That had all ended when Shiro disappeared when Keith was 14. It had been four years since that happened, and today just so happened to be the anniversary of his disappearance. Keith was glad he had a fake ID.

He was now just outside the circle where Hunk and Tempest were fighting off what looked to be a galra monster. Spectral Shift darted around, trying her best to help them. It was nearly impossible as the galra beast wasn't going to back down. Keith watched as it flung yellow light at Hunk and Tempest. Hunk had seen it and darted out of the way, followed by Spectral Shift. Tempest still hadn't seen it. He called out, and as Tempest turned, the light hit him. 

He watched as Tempest flew up into the air, his mask coming off his face. He landed in front of Keith and when he looked down, he saw Lance. The purple monster turned and saw Keith and Lance. It hissed and started to run towards Keith. That was when everything started to get fuzzy. 

"Stay away from him," Keith threatened, just loud enough for the beast to hear him. He couldn't remember how his arms were now covered in flames, only that he knew that he had caused it. That was what he could remember at least. Everything else was fuzzy.

Keith vaguely remembered destroying the galra monster with flames and watched as the fire rushed across the ground around the monster. He could remember the cold pavement underneath him as he collapsed on the ground, and the heat of the fire nearby. The ground was wet from the storm Tempest, well, that Lance had created, and he could remember that it was absolutely freezing. The only way he was able to process this was by recalling minuscule details. 

He woke up on the ground, probably a moment or two later. Hunk was kneeling next to him. Keith rubbed his temples, his head throbbing. 

"What happened?" He asked, his hand resting on the side of his head. Hunk set a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith looked down at Hunk's hand and immediately noticed that the sleeves of his favorite jacket had burned off. He then noticed how cold it was without his sleeves. There was no protection against the elements in what had now become a vest. He pulled himself up off the ground, and took off, ignoring Hunk calling after him. Nothing made sense. 

***

It didn't really make sense, you know. One moment Lance swore he had it under control, and then wham! He was knocked out of the air and there was Keith, and he was on fire. Literally. 

Lance didn't understand it, and he wasn't sure how he could even wrap his mind around it. There really wasn't any way that Keith could have gained powers from that fire, but he had managed to save his ass from a galra monster, and he had had powers. Keith didn't seem like the type to even have super powers, but he did. 

Lance realized then that he had been pacing around his room, and had partially frozen the floor. Shit. Allura was probably going to kill him. She had let him stay in the castle-esque place she lived in, but he had been given clear instructions to keep his room tidy and not mess up things too much. This was going to ruin the hardwood floors. Lance sat down on his bed and groaned. Everything had started going downhill when Keith showed up a few months ago. Lance wasn't gonna tell anyone, but there was something about Keith that made him flustered and made it hard to breath. Hunk would call it a crush, for sure. That was why Lance didn't tell Hunk about it. 

There was a knock at his door, and Lance nearly jumped out of his skin. Standing, he stepped around the icy footprints on the floor, and grabbed the door handle. He pulled open the door and there was Keith. Speak of the devil. 

"How did you get in here?" Lance asked. 

"Snuck in. Wasn't too hard. Besides, you owe me a new jacket. I saved your ass and it ruined my favorite jacket." Keith said, throwing his jacket-turned-vest onto Lance's bed. 

"Also, where's Hunk? I thought he lived here." Keith said, his hands crossed over his chest. 

"Well, I think he's out looking for you." Lance replied, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He sent a quick text to Hunk that he had found Keith. He sat down on his bed. 

"So, what happened? I know you were literally on fire, but how?" Lance said, raising an eyebrow. Keith was quiet. He didn't know how to answer Lance's question because he didn't know how. It most likely had something to do with the fire that Tempest, no, Lance had rescued him from. 

"It was a fire. I almost died, I think. But you showed up and you saved me. Thanks, I guess." Keith said, not sure what he should be doing. There wasn't really anything else he could possibly say. He couldn't just spill his guts to Lance just now. There was stuff he needed to keep to himself, anyways. 

"Keith? That fire was a month ago. So does this mean that you've been catching fire since then?" Lance asked and Keith snapped out of his thoughts. He looked over at Lance and could tell he looked concerned for Keith and his wellbeing. 

"Well, yeah. It didn't really start up though until about two weeks ago, and ever since it's gotten stronger and stronger until, well, last night." He said, before snapping his fingers. A little flame flickered to life, dancing between his fingers. Lance got up and looked at it a little closer. 

He could've sworn he had gotten Keith out of that fire before it had affected him this much. Lance could see a giant healed burn scar on one of Keith's exposed arm. That had to be from something else. 

Lance also couldn't help but notice how wild Keith's hair was, and how he looked really pissed off about something that had to be more than his jacket. 

"Did that burn scar come from the fire?" Lance asked. 

"No, it came from a different one. When I was 14. That more recent fire only left a few small burns on my hand. It's not that big of a deal." Keith said, brushing Lance off. He didn't really want to talk about that fire. It brought back a lot of bad memories.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to send a special thank you to my beta and artist for the fic. You both did such wonderful jobs, and were a huge help!  
> Artist: [resident-artist](http://resident-artist.tumblr.com/)  
> Beta: [Mikiri](http://mikiri.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thank y'all for all the work you did to make this fic really shine!
> 
> (art is [here](http://resident-artist.tumblr.com/post/164011952766/art-i-did-of-mermaid-lance-s-fic-for-the))


End file.
